Tree Stump (Parez) 1949

Miroslav Hák made this photograph, Tree Stump (Parez), sometime in the middle of the last century. It's rendered in shades of gray and brown. Doesn't it look like the tree stump is trying to tell us something? It stands there, a little awkwardly, like it has something on its chest it needs to get off. What might it be? I imagine Hák getting down on his knees, tilting his head to get a better view of the stump, maybe moving slightly to the left to capture the light just so. He's noticing every little detail of the bark, the way it curves and twists, the rough texture, the delicate grasses that surround it. The photo is a quiet symphony of textures. Hák must have been fascinated by the way nature can be both incredibly strong and incredibly delicate at the same time. I think he's trying to say something about the cycle of life, about how everything is connected, even in death.